Azenta (formerly Brooks Automation) was founded in 1978 and is based in

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of London a ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. The company is a provider of automation, vacuum and instrumentation equipment for multiple markets, including

semiconductor manufacturing Semiconductor device fabrication is the process used to manufacture semiconductor devices, typically integrated circuit (IC) chips such as modern computer processors, microcontrollers, and memory chips such as NAND flash and DRAM that are pres ...

, technology device manufacturing, and

life sciences This list of life sciences comprises the branches of science that involve the scientific study of life – such as microorganisms, plants, and animals including human beings. This science is one of the two major branches of natural science, the ...

History

Brooks Automation was set up in 1978 and incorporated in 1994. In 2002, Brooks Automation, Inc. completed the acquisition of Intelligent Automation Systems, Inc. of Cambridge, Massachusetts, a custom automation company with technology and products for the semiconductor, photonics and life sciences industries. Brooks Automation acquired the Celigo automated Cell Cytometer product line from Cyntellect, Inc in 2011. The same year, Brooks acquired Nexus Biosystems, which produced

compound Compound may refer to: Architecture and built environments * Compound (enclosure), a cluster of buildings having a shared purpose, usually inside a fence or wall ** Compound (fortification), a version of the above fortified with defensive struct ...

and

sample Sample or samples may refer to: Base meaning * Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of s ...

management system A management system is a set of policies, processes and procedures used by an organization to ensure that it can fulfill the tasks required to achieve its objectives. These objectives cover many aspects of the organization's operations (including ...

s. The following year the company acquired intangible assets from Intevac, Inc. and acquired Crossing Automation Inc. In October 2012, Brooks Automation entered into an agreement to acquire Crossing Automation Inc. In April 2014, Brooks Automation entered into an agreement to sell its Granville-Phillips division to

MKS Instruments MKS Instruments, Inc. is an American process control instrumentation company. It is headquartered in Andover, Massachusetts. History MKS Instruments was founded in 1961 as a provider of products and technologies used to measure, control, powe ...

. Brooks closed the sale of Granville-Phillips to MKS Instruments on May 30, 2014. Brooks automation announced the acquisition of Biostorage Technologies on 1 December 2015 In 2017 Brooks acquired 4titude, a maker of scientific tools and consumables, while in 2018, Brooks acquired GENEWIZ, a

genomics Genomics is an interdisciplinary field of biology focusing on the structure, function, evolution, mapping, and editing of genomes. A genome is an organism's complete set of DNA, including all of its genes as well as its hierarchical, three-dim ...

services provider as part of their life sciences division's expansion. In November 2021 Brooks Automation Inc. split into two entities, Brooks Automation and Azenta Life Sciences. The latter will focus exclusively on their life science division. In August 2022, Azenta Life Sciences has come to a definitive agreement to acquire B Medical Systems S.á.r.l., in a transaction of approx. €410 million (with an additional €50 millions in future performance milestones) is expected to be completed by October 2022.

Business

Brooks Automation operates in three segments: Brooks Product Solutions, Brooks Global Services, and Brooks Life Science Systems. Brooks Automation provides mainly four kinds: semiconductor automation and life science systems equipment, gas analysis and

vacuum A vacuum is a space devoid of matter. The word is derived from the Latin adjective ''vacuus'' for "vacant" or "void". An approximation to such vacuum is a region with a gaseous pressure much less than atmospheric pressure. Physicists often dis ...

measurement, cryopumps, cryochillers and

compressor A compressor is a mechanical device that increases the pressure of a gas by reducing its volume. An air compressor is a specific type of gas compressor. Compressors are similar to pumps: both increase the pressure on a fluid and both can transp ...

s, asset tracking equipment. The company features in developing and building the handling system and related technology. Automation products are used to support both atmospheric and vacuum based processes while the company's focus remains on improving performance and productivity. The company provides vacuum pumps and instrumentation to maintain pressure consistency of the known process gas. The Brooks Life Science Systems provides automated sample management systems and equipment, such as automated blood fractionation equipment,

cell Cell most often refers to: * Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life Cell may also refer to: Locations * Monastic cell, a small room, hut, or cave in which a religious recluse lives, alternatively the small precursor of a monastery w ...

ular imaging, and consumables parts.

Research and development

In January 2012, Brooks Automation announced that it had acquired the Celigo Cell Cytometer product line from Cyntellect Inc. Celigo had an advantage in cell imaging systems based on its unique combination of high-throughput, ease-of-use, and affordability. In April 2012, Brooks Automation announced the Polycold Systems XC Cryochiller (a multi-purpose cooler) product line and set a new standard in the industry. With the new production line put into use in vacuum and thermal management applications, it would greatly increase water vapor pumping speed and decrease the operating costs. In July 2013, Brooks Automation announced that it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire the assets and business of Matrical, Inc.($10 million) to expand the Brooks Life Science Systems business. Matrical focuses on biological sample preparation, management, and storage solutions.

Awards

Brooks Automation won the R&D 100 award (100 most technologically significant new products introduced) by '' R&D Magazine'' for its Model 830 Vacuum Quality Monitor (VQMTM). VQMTM was used to determine gas composition with an electrostatic autoresonant ion trap.

References

External links

* {{authority control Life science companies based in Massachusetts Technology companies based in Massachusetts Manufacturing companies based in Massachusetts Companies based in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Manufacturing companies established in 1978 Technology companies established in 1978 1978 establishments in Massachusetts Companies listed on the Nasdaq